Now a Lovely Night Will Begin
by spocketlaine
Summary: According to legends, when you and your significant other watched the fireworks together, it meant you guys were fated to be with each other. She didn't know if it was true or not, but considering her parents watched it when they were her age and happily married, she'd take her chances on it. [TsubasaxSanae]


AN: this is a monster, but have this late christmas gift that's actually a sort of sequel to Distractions. It was based on a prompt, and I only intended it to be short, but things got really out of hand thus this was born

Prompt on this prompt from _otpprompts_ in tumblr: There is an upcoming festival/dance/etc. and someone (could be Person C of an OT3, a member of your NOTP, whatever) asks Person A to the event. Person A, for whatever reason, does not want to go with them but doesn't want to hurt their feelings, so they take the arm of a random passerby (or fellow student if they're in a school) and tells Person C that they're going with that person. Person A turns to look at the person whose arm they just grabbed only to find out that it was Person B! What happens next is up to you.

hope you all enjoy and happy holidays!

yeah i dont own captain tsubasa

* * *

Now a Lovely Night Will Begin

The calendar was mocking her she was sure. Everything on it was making fun of her. With its black numbers that was printed oh-so-hugely and that big red circle on the number 28, it was definitely mocking her. The 28th was the date exactly three days from now. The date that she's been waiting for since the beginning of the year. It was the date the majority of the couples in Nankatsu has been looking forward to. It was the date _she's_ been looking forward to.

It was the date of the Summer Festival.

You might think that it's just a festival, but for the residents of their tiny little town, it's kind of a big deal. This was day that could decide a couple's fate. According to legends (they were passed down from generation to generation calling it rumors was too prosaic), when you and your significant other watched the fireworks together, it meant you guys were fated to be with each other. She didn't know if it was true or not, but considering her parents watched it when they were her age and happily married, she'd take her chances on it.

But it sucked because not only was it just around the corner, but she still didn't have a _yukata_ to wear, and she still didn't have anyone to go with because she's such a spineless swimp she couldn't even find the courage to ask her crush!

The world just hated her.

With a defeated sigh, she begrudgingly started to change out of her pajamas into her uniform, preparing herself for another day of exhaustion and disappointment.

Saying goodbye to her parents after breakfast, she finally left her house, thinking that today will just be like any other day. And for the most part, it was just a typical day. She went to the boys' training, did her duties, stared longingly at Tsubasa, finished her morning duties, went to class (and still looked forlornly at her captain), and through all those boring everyday events, lunch finally arrived. It really was the only thing exciting about her day to day life (it might be a smidge more exciting if only she was actually dating a certain someone). Yukari was in another class, so they always meet up at each other's classroom, depending on what they talked about that morning in practice. Today, decided to eat at Yukari's room, which was a good thing because if it was at her classroom, she'd be too busy making lovesick eyes at Tsubasa to even listen to her best friend, or even eat for that matter.

"So any plans for Saturday?" Yukari sked her in the middle of their lunch.

She snorted before she put a piece of sweetened egg in her mouth. "As if I ever have plans for the festival. I'll probably just go with Atsushi and make sure he doesn't blow all of his allowance money on games."

"Again?" Yukari demanded. "It's your last chance to try and spend the summer festival with him. Why didn't you ask him to go with you?"

"Believe me, I tried," she sighed. She really did. She remembered all the chances she had. Her first chance was three weeks ago when she was helping him with training. It was the perfect time too! They took a break from his training and sat under a tree to cool off. She didn't know how, but the stars seemed to align for her that day. The sun was setting, they were sitting with their bodies their knees almost touched. She had every intention of asking him then right there, but apparently there was a rebel star who refused to help her with her romantic endeavors. Being the freaking idiot that he was, Tsubasa could not read the mood at all. Her intentions of asking him were thrown out of the window when he suddenly declared that he was going to back to training with all the gaiety and enthusiasm of a person in love with a sport. Being the person that she was, she only smiled in support while deep inside, she was strangling herself for letting the chance get away.

Great way to be assertive Sanae. A for effort.

Then there was also that one time they were the only two people left in the classroom because they had cleaning duties together, and she had a feeling that their classmates purposely gave them (lousy) excuses that they had to do something so that they could leave them alone together and hopefully something happen between the two of them. Apparently the whole school know about her tiny (huge) crush on their soccer superstar and the only one who didn't have any inkling to it was the captain himself. Jokes on them that wouldn't happen until the day she starts sitting in a rocking chair with knees weakened with age as she knits for a grandchild that wasn't even hers.

So the two of them were left to clean the room, silence enveloping them. She wouldn't admit it out loud, but she might have been brooding and sulking a little bit. After all, she had another chance to ask him to the festival once more, but that fiasco at the field just discouraged her from doing it again. If he couldn't figure out she wanted to ask him something within the romantic parameters, who's to say he would be able to this time.

With a sigh, she went back to cleaning and channeled her annoyance in whatever she had to do.

She was trying to erase something on the board, but considering she wasn't exactly the tallest sunflower in the field, she had a time erasing it. She was already on her toes and she still couldn't reach it! She thought about jumping and doing a fast swipe to get rid of it, but she didn't want to such a childish act right in front of Tsubasa! Do you have any idea how embarrassing it would be? Plus she wouldn't even be able to clean it right.

Sucking it up, she stood and tried to erase it as best as she could.

As she continued to stand on her toes, trying to erase the writings on the board in vain, she suddenly felt a hand placed on her hip, and another eraser did the job she couldn't do. Within a blink of an eye, she could feel everything around her. She felt his perfectly muscled chest pressed against her back, could feel the rise and fall of it from his breathing. She could feel the warmth he radiates that only seemed to heat her up even more in this already hot summer day. But it wasn't a bad heat… it was a comfortable one and if she could, she'd rather cuddle him all day long.

She gingerly craned her neck behind to look up to him. Oh my god, she thought her heart jumped out of her chest. He had that cute-adorable-hot-sexy smile on that never failed to make her legs feel like jelly. She didn't even know how she was still standing.

She barely heard him tell her that if she needed any help, she should have just asked because she was so distracted by his fine lips (her eyes just immediately landed on them okay. It's not like she wanted to- fine, maybe she did specifically land her sight on them) and she felt herself gulp. She didn't even notice him talking and stare at her as _she_ stared on his lips, licking her own in the process. She felt his chest rise and slowly, she turned her body around, raising her eyes to meet his. Immediately, she felt her heart quicken.

She didn't know how long they stared at each other, nor did she even notice what they were doing. The next thing she knew, she was laying her hand on his chest, right above his heart. She licked her lips again, feeling the beat of his heart against her palm. She didn't noticed the way Tsubasa gazed at her, focused on the connection between her and his heart. She felt his chest rise again and quickly looked up, and her breath was suddenly stuck in her throat. There was something in the way he was looking at her, something that she couldn't really figure out. But it was enough to make her spine shiver, even though it was hot as hell that day. He was looking at her in a way that made her heart skip a beat.

Slowly, his hand wrapped around her wrist gently, and she was afraid that he was going to yank it away in disgust. But his gaze softened and lingered on it as his thumb caressed her skin slowly. She didn't know whether he could feel her pulse, and at this point she couldn't even sense his own heart beat because she was so focused on what's going on between them she didn't know what was happening around her.

She suddenly took a deep breath.

This was it, this could finally be it. This was finally the time she was waiting for. This was the day she'll get to ask him to go with her to the summer festival.

Gulping, she spoke:

"I-"

She heard herself start. Tsubasa's eyes mer hers, waiting for her to continue. But she could not. Not when her voice got stuck in her throat. She didn't think she could do this. Not when he was staring at her intensely she just feel like running away.

No. She could do this. She knew she could. There was no way she was going to let this chance pass. She had to do this.

Licking her lips, she forced herself to continue.

"I-" she said again. Tsubasa tilted his head to side, a curious look on her face.

She felt her face warm up.

Oh my god, how could one man be cute and hot at the same time? He's not even an adult yet!

Focus Sanae! Focus!

Gulping once more, she finally cleared her mind except for one and only goal.

"W-would y-"

The sliding door suddenly opened, accompanied by a voice she dreaded to hear.

Of all times, why now?!

Both of them suddenly took their hands off of each other, and in Tsubasa's case, separated himself from her. For her part, she held her hands together and looked down, blushing from the nails of her toes to the ends of her hair.

"-he's still here right? Alright, thanks!" Ishizaki's voice drifted from the room's entrance. They turned their heads towards him just as their friend looked inside the room.

Never did she had an urge to strangle him with her hands.

"Tsubasa!" Ishizaki exclaimed. "You're still here? Oh and Anego too. Well, whatever. Shouldn't you be at the field right now? You need to condition the newbies remember?"

Tsubasa produced a cry of distress as he raised both of his hands to his head, clearly showing that he did in fact forget about it (was she- was she the reason why he forgot? Oh god, she totally ruined it this time now).

"Better rush to the field if I were you!" Their defender whistled. "Anyway, I just dropped by to tell that to ya. See ya!"

And he finally left just as he arrived.

You would think that they would be able to continue what they were doing before they got interrupted, but considering this was Tsubasa. Continuing was far from what he did.

Apologies quickly flew from his mouth and all throughout his half assed apologies, she could only smile and told him it was fine, no big deal, she knew how important the team was to him. No, it's okay, go ahead, she'll finish this. No, she's not mad (she was for two different reasons).

Although his grateful smile was almost enough to make her forgive him. _Almost._

As she watched him rush out of the door and out of her sight, she could only think of one thing in her mind.

Someone please kill her.

She did have more chances to ask him to go with her, but like those two, they were all interrupted so she just gave up in the end. What was the point?

Sanae sighed and directed her eyes to the clock. There were only five minutes left until lunch ends, she should probably start heading back to her room.

"I'm gonna go head to class," she told Yukari as she cleaned up her stuff.

"Okay," her best friend answered as she also began cleaning up. "You sure you really won't ask him again?" Yukari asked as she walked her to her door.

Sanae shrugged, "I don't see the point anymore. It's already too late anyway, and I still don't have a _yukata_ to wear."

"Hey, who knows maybe when he finally hears everything from you without getting interrupted, he'll agree to it."

She snorted and took a step out of the room. "Let's be serious like, that will ever happen." Brushing a lock of her hair behind her ear, she waved a hand to Yukari in good bye. "I'll see you later, Yukari-chan."

"See you! And still think about asking him, okay."

"No promises," she answered while walking away.

Sanae walked mindlessly through the hallways, trudging tiredly towards her classroom where she had to face him again and try not act like a lovesick puppy. God, she felt really exhausted. Maybe she shouldn't even go to the festival and just stay at home and sleep all day. Atsushi was a big boy, he should know how to handle himself by now.

Immersed in her brooding, she didn't even hear someone calling her name.

"-nae-chan, Sanae-chan! Wait!"

She turned around quickly when she felt a hand land on her shoulder, and blinked her eyes when she saw who was calling her.

"Finally I'm able to talk to you!" the guy exclaimed after panting for a few seconds to catch her breath. He seemed to have ran a long way in order to catch her. She didn't know him though… Wait he looks familiar…

Oh! Wasn't he the captain of the baseball team? Kitanami Hiroshi? Yeah, that was him name. She didn't really care for the names of the other people in school, unless she had to know them somehow (she only had eyes for one captain after all).

Hmm… wonder what he needed her for?

"Can I help you with anything Kitanami-kun?" she asked with a friendly smile. She was trying to remember stuff about him. It would be bad if actually showed he didn't really know him at all. Plus, that would be awful considering he seemed to know her.

If she remembered correctly, he was something of a flirt (ladies' man, playboy, whatever you want to call him. He's just really a huge hit with girls for some reason. They said he was a really smooth talker or whatever."

He returned her smile, but instead he looked as if he was beaming. It was- it was almost blinding actually.

"Oh man, you're so great. You still remember my name!" he said excitedly. Was she not supposed to remember him at all?

She tilted her head to the side in confusion. "Was I not supposed to?"

"No, no, no!" he waved his hands quickly. "I mean, yeah you're supposed to remem- I mean gah I can't words!" He then ran his hands through his hair in annoyance.

Sanae couldn't help but giggle at his antics. Well, wasn't he a character.

She failed to notice the way he seemed to be mesmerized by her chuckles though.

Kitanami-kun cleared his throat and placed his hand on the back of neck while the other one was shoved into his pocket. He was looking away from her, and again Sanae failed to see the light shade of pink running across his cheeks.

"Anyway," he coughed. "I-uh-I was wondering if…"

He suddenly trailed off. She knitted her eyebrows in confusion. Why suddenly stop? And why was he stuttering? Wasn't he supposed to be great with girls like her?

"If?" she said.

"If-" he repeated. Kitanami-kun took a deep breath and took his hand from his neck and set it at his side. He released his breath and turned to look directly at her, right at her eyes.

She had a bad a feeling about this.

"If you'd like to go to the Summer Festival with me!" He shouted out loud, earning the attentions of everyone.

Oh. Oh. _Oh…_

Oh shit.

What the fuck? This came out of nowhere! Where did this come from?! Why did he decide to ask her, to even like her for that matter? Why?!

Did he even like her? Maybe she's the new "conquest" this time (according to Yukari, he calls the girls he broke the hearts of as "conquests") and she didn't really want to be added to that growing list. But he was so sweet in asking her, that she's thinking that maybe he was actually genuine about this?

Supposing he really did like her, and genuinely did like her and not just someone to fool around with, then why? How? She's not exactly the most feminine girl out there. Ishizaki still considered her a tomboy and she could somehow see why. She's bossy, she's fine getting dirty, she was more comfortable wearing shorts and pants (even if she was a little comfortable wearing dresses and skirts too, pants and shorts are just… _comfortable_ ), she barely even have any make up on that people actually think she wasn't wearing any (she did, except its super light because she's too lazy to add a complicated layer of eyeshadow so early in the morning, and contouring's hella pain to do. And there's not even a point in doing winged eyeliners), she had the most unflattering body in the face of the planet (she's over proportioned in some areas of her body it looks awful. She's already 15 and she still had to change bra sizes almost every month), and she's super shy that people (girls) think she's a huge bitch, which she could be sometimes.

Really of all the pretty girls all over Nankatsu, why her?

And how in the world could she explain to him that sorry, she didn't want to go to the Summer Festival this year because one: she didn't have anything to wear, two: her crush is an idiot who couldn't take hints, and three: she gave up on life because she just realized that she actually didn't have a chance to even be with her crush with all her huge noticeable flaws and now she just want to bury herself under her blankets and wallow in self-pity.

Yay life.

Looking left and right in a frenzy, she tried to think of a way to get out of this. There must be a way to say no to him without saying a direct no.

Think, Sanae, think!

Instinctively, she grabbed the nearest person's arm (who coincidentally was just walking pass them) and hugged his arm close to her. There was a sudden thought in her mind telling her how familiar the scent coming from the guy was, but it was pushed back to the back of her mind as quick as it came. Impulsively her lips began to move.

"Sorry," she apologized halfheartedly, "I already made plans with him." She tightened her hold on the person's arm, whoever they might be, and hoped that they realized that she wanted them to play along.

Kitanami-kun looked at her in disbelief at first, and she was swearing in her head of her poor acting skills. But then his eyes trailed up to see who she was holding onto (hopefully someone she knew and trusted. It would be a huge embarrassment trying to explain this to someone who she barely knew) before he suddenly widened them and a look of terror entered his face.

Huh?

"O-oh?" Kitanami-kun gulped in fright. "Is that- is that so? I guess, I guess its fine. It's cool. Forget I even asked Sanae-chan-" then he suddenly jumped with a pathetic whimper, "I mean Nakazawa-chan. It's fine. I didn't mean to put you in a situation like this. I understand."

He coughed again and fidgeted. "So uh- I-I'll see you later I guess. Bye!" With that, he ran away from her as fast as possible.

She knitted her eyebrows in confusion and loosened her grip on the person. That was weird? The guy she grabbed couldn't be that bad? Not when the person had really defined arm muscles and a really amazing scent to match with it. She still couldn't figure out why it was so familiar though.

Immersed in her thoughts, she didn't hear the guy clear his throat.

"So where were we meeting up again this Saturday? I think I might have forgot."

Immediately she came back to reality when she heard that voice. Now that was a voice she wouldn't be able to forget.

But please tell her she was wrong.

She whipped her body around frantically to see who she roped into lying with her, and hoped to all gods that he was not who she thought it was.

But when she saw who exactly it was, she almost fainted in embarrassment.

Actually someone let her die, please.

Tsubasa was giving her a teasing smile, that one smile that aggravated her and made her swoon at the same time. Even right now, she didn't even know whether she wanted to punch him or kiss him.

"No, no, no. Its fine!" she waved her hands frenetically as she shook her head from side to side. "You don't have to go with me!" She's been hoping he would. She couldn't even understand why she wasn't taking this chance. "I didn't mean to rope you into this, really. I just… needed someone to help me turn him down gently. Sorry."

"I wouldn't exactly call that 'gently,'" he teased. She felt herself flush and looked down, wringing her hands together. "It's fine," he shrugged. "And besides, I wouldn't mind going with you."

She looked up to him quickly as her heart skipped a beat. Did he really mean that? Oh be still, my beating heart.

She looked down again and dwindled with her thumb. "Are you sure? I mean, you probably already had plans with the others. I don't want to ruin any of your plans." As much as she wanted to hold his hand as they walked along the streets, she didn't want to impose on any of his plans.

"Hey, I'm okay with it. I promise," he peered down to look at her. Their faces was so close together she knew she was probably looking like a tomato now. "Besides, I don't have any plans yet. I think it'll be fun, going to the festival with you."

She felt a sudden heat enter her stomach and the beating of her heart seemed to quicken every second. God, he's so-so- cute!

She took a small step backwards to give them a little bit of distance so her heart could take a small break. She peered up to him shyly.

"But are you really sure? You really do-"

"Is it just me or are you the one who doesn't really want to go with me," he chuckled softly, and holy shit Tsubasa stop being such an adorable hot mess. It's not good for her heart. "You wound me Sanae-chan. And I thought we were already going together from what you told that guy."

He gave her a wink, and honestly please just let her survive this day.

"No, no, no. I would love to go with you to the festival!" she clarified. "I could have died in joy when you said that you'd be happy to go to with me." Woah, Sanae calm down. Shut up before you spill anything anymore.

"Great!" he interrupted before she could even continue. "I'll pick you up at your house at 6:30. See you in class!"

And just like that, he left her dumbfounded in the halls.

Holy soccer balls, she's actually going to the Summer Festival with Oozora Tsubasa.

* * *

To say that it was awkward for her was an understatement. Because of what happened by the end of lunch, she couldn't meet Tsubasa's eyes now. Yeah, she already did a hard time sharing eye contact with him before without her heart doing somersaults, but now her heart just wasn't doing acrobatic shows, but her face was heating like a fireplace, and her voice refused to come out. And her stomach was having a field day.

She got it _bad_.

To make it worse, the asshole seemed to be so amused by it! Whenever they meet eyes, he'd give her that stupid smile and wink at her. Wink. At. Her. Like his smile wasn't bad enough! And then being the fool that she was, always looked away with a pink tint across her cheeks. Then she'd hear him chuckle softly as she tried to disappear from the face of the earth.

The worst part of it is that nobody seemed to have noticed the way he was torturing her.

She needed a counselor.

"You alright?"

She jumped in surprise when she felt a hand on her shoulder, suddenly dropping the laundry basket full clothes that needed to be washed. Bummer.

"Aren't you jumpy today?" She heard Yukari's voice come from behind her. Sanae turned around tiredly and sighed before starting to pick up the clothes on the ground.

"Oh wow, that bad huh?" Yukari said as she helped her pick stuff up. "What's wrong?"

Sanae hefted up the laundry basket on her hip. "Tsubasa," she sighed again.

"Did it end that badly?" Yukari asked with pity in her voice. She laid a hand on her shoulder and rubbed it comfortably. "Don't worry Sanae-chan's. He's an idiot fo-"

"No, no," Sanae said as they began to walk towards the club room. "He didn't turn me down."

Yukari raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Oh? Then what is it? He's still not going to the festival with you?"

"That's the thing," Sanae informed her. "I am going with him now?"

Yukari stopped walking and gasped. "You finally asked him?!"

Sanae looked away right in front of the door. "Not exactly…" she mumbled.

"Then how did you get him to go with you?"

"I, um, I kind of made him go with me…" she explained.

This time her best friend raised an eyebrow. "You _made_ him go with you?"

"Well, I didn't have a choice!" Sanae defended herself. "There was another guy asking me to go with them to the festival and I didn't really want to. But I also didn't want to say no straight out, so I grabbed a person's arm and lied about having plans with this person. It just so happens Tsubasa was that person."

There was a long silence coming from her best friend, and Sanae was actually starting to worry about her since Yukari was just staring at her with her jaw open.

Until she finally bit her lip to restrain her smile. Sanae knew she was in for something troublesome.

Yukari then looked away from her, her hand covering her mouth as her body shook with restrained laughter. It kept on for quite some time, and Sanae could only roll her eyes in exasperation.

Finally, Yukari snorted and released her laughs.

"Oh my god, Sanae, this is-this great," she managed to sat between howls. "Oh man. I can't believe- believe this. I wished I could have seen it."

"It's not funny," Sanae sulked as she moved the laundry basket around for her hip to be more comfortable.

"It sure is to me," Yukari cheekily replied to her. "But really, I didn't expect you to do something like that."

She flushed and looked down to face the ground. "I didn't plan on doing it… It just sorta happened. It was just a coincidence that he was the nearest one for me to grab. I even told him that he wasn't obligated to go with me."

"Oh?" Yukari voiced out. "Then how come you guys are still going together?"

Sanae flushed even more and looked away from her. "He insisted," she mumbled softly.

Yukari knitted her eyebrows in confusion. "What?" she said, not hearing what she said.

Sanae tried not to groan. Did she really have to repeat herself? Why did Yukari's hearing have to fail her at this time?

"He insisted," she said a little louder, but apparently it still wasn't loud enough for Yukari.

"What? Come on Sanae, speak up. I can-"

Oh for the love of soccer gods!

"He insisted, okay!" she screamed. "I asked him so many times if he was sure, and assured him that he didn't need to go but no, he was just so adamant to going with me that I just had to give in. And now he just keeps giving these stupid smiles and winking at me like the tease that he is that just keeps making my heart go haywire. Happy?"

By the end of it, Yukari was beaming. "Very," she said. "Everything just got better knowing that it was actually him who wanted to go with you."

He wanted to go with her? Please.

Sanae rolled her eyes and reached for the door knob. "I don't know where you're getting this from. If anything, he's probably just doing this to tease me. Jerk."

She wasn't looking at the club entrance when she was opening it, which also meant that she didn't see who exactly was behind that door.

There was a reason Yukari was biting her knuckles to keep smiling.

"Is she still going on about how I don't want to go with her to the festival?"

Oh, were you kidding her?

She whipped around quickly and for the second time that day, she almost had a heart attack.

Tsubasa was in front of her, acting disappointed but there was that teasing smile again that she didn't know whether to strangle him, kiss him, or let the earth open up and swallow her whole.

"So you guys are really going together?" Yukari asked.

"Yup!" he answered cheerfully. "According to her, we already have plans too."

Yukari turned to her slyly, the corner of her lips quirked in a smirk. "Really now?"

Oh my god, this boy will be the death of her.

"What? No, I don't!" Sanae denied vehemently. "You're the one who-"

"Really?" Tsubasa interrupted, scratching the back of his head. "Well I guess we'll just wing it then."

"Tsubasa-kun please!"

Ignoring her, Tsubasa gave them another smile and started to walk. "I gonna have to leave you guys now. Practice is starting soon and I don't really want Coach to get mad at me. Plus, the guys are jerks, enough said. Catch you later!"

Sanae could simmer in anger watching the love of her life basically just listen to his own thoughts and completely ignoring hers.

"So I take it he's the one planning now?" Yukari asked, nudging her playfully. "Better have your _yukata_ sis, 'cause I feel like you're gonna be in for a ride."

Ah fudge, she forgot about the _yukata_ too…

"And if all things go right, maybe that's not the only thing you're going to be riding," she remarked as she entered the clubroom.

Did she just? Oh my god, let her die please.

"Yukari-chan!"

* * *

"Mama, I need a _yukata_!" she immediately exclaimed once she passed the doors to their ice cream parlor. She didn't even notice the customers they were serving, which by the way, was quite a crowd. It was hot day today.

Her mom peered at her from above her glasses. "Why? I thought you're not going to the festival."

"That was my plan," she said as she went around the ice cream freezers to put her bag by the staircase. "But life was making its own plans and now I'm going. Hi, Mizukani-san, Koshiro-kun."

The young mother and child greeted her back before turning back to looking through the ice cream selections.

"What happened?" Her mom asked as she turned to their customers, taking their orders. Her mother then told her to wash her hands and take care of the next customers.

"Life happened," she answered as she scooped Masahiro-san's ice cream on a cone. She didn't want to tell her mom that she was going to Tsubasa now, and she would like to keep it that way.

"That's not an answer," her mom quipped while handing Mizukani-san's change back to her.

Shoot, she was hoping she'd buy it, but considering that this was her mom, she should have expected for her to figure it out as soon as possible.

"No, seriously Sanae. What happened? You don't exactly change your plans once you set your mind to it. And we are not spending that much money just to get you a new one. I doubt you'd even fit your old one considering you're _still_ growing in some areas," her mother gave her a pointed look, and she refrained from groaning. "Speak up, hun. You're gonna have to tell me everything before we even do anything."

Sanae released a deep breath and turned away from her mom. Did she really have to tell her? It's embarrassing. She knew her undying crush on Tsubasa, and she'd have a town wide celebration if she found out she was going with him. Not to mention, her dad will have an aneurism when he hears about this. Maybe she could just slip on the old one, but like her mom said, she would not fit in them now.

Fine.

"I'm going with Tsubasa," she murmured under her breath and walked around her mother to go to the cashier to let Masahiro-san pay for his ice cream.

She saw from the corner of her eyes that her mother knitted her eyebrows.

"There you go Masahiro-san," she said as she handed him her change. The guy nodded and left just as her mom spoke.

"What?" her mom said blankly.

Sanae rolled her eyes and sighed. Here we go again. Life just really hated her didn't it?

"I'm going with Tsubasa," she repeated a little louder than last time.

And like with Yukari, it wasn't loud enough.

"Sanae, will you please stop mumbling. I ca-"

"I'm going with Tsubasa!" she exclaimed, a little annoyed. What was it really and people not hearing her today. She knew that it was loud enough. Why couldn't they hear her?

Immersed in her irritation, she didn't notice the way her mom gaped at her in shock, nor did she see all of their patrons staring at her in surprise.

Then the whole store exploded.

"Way to go Sanae-chan!"

"I knew he likes her too!"

"Damn, I thought I had a chance!"

"YES! That ¥10,000 is mine!"

Wait what?

Snapping out of her thoughts, she finally realized her blunder as she looked around her in horror as everyone whooped and congratulated her. What was going on? Did they actually know about her crush? She thought she hid it well! Did the whole town about it then?

Let her disappear please.

And what was that ¥10,000 about?

"Okay, okay, settle down please!" her mom's voice interrupted the happy cheering. They all stopped and looked her expectantly.

"I know we're all excited about my daughter's date with our soccer star this Saturday, but I'm afraid that all celebrations need to be continued outside of this vicinity. We're closing for the day" she told everyone with her legs apart and hands on her hips. That stance looked familiar… Wow, she was more similar to her mother than she realized.

"What, Hana-san why?"

"Because I'm doing important with my sweet daughter today," she answered simply.

Sanae gave a wary look to her mother. "What are we doing?"

Her mother gave a smirk and already she knew she didn't like what this was going to be.

"We're going shopping."

She knew it. She was done. She wouldn't even complain if she disappear right at this moment.

Her mother cleared her throat and grinned. "Now then, I'll leave Sanae in charge of leading you people out. I have important matters to discuss with my husband." With that she left the parlor area and headed for the stairs, calling her father's name.

Maybe she shouldn't go after all.

* * *

Shopping with her mother was always an exhausting adventure. After closing the shop and getting her father's permission to buy a new _yukata_ for her (something he begrudgingly gave. He didn't like it that someone was stealing her "princess" from him. Sanae only snorted and refrained from saying how Tsubasa already got her since two years ago), they immediately set out to the only _kimono_ shop in town. A while wouldn't even describe the time they spent in there. Apparently, almost everything clashed with her complexion. They finally found something that suited her after three hours of untying and retying _yukata_ on her.

Actually, she wouldn't take a no for this one. Not only because she was getting tired of being treated like a human doll, but also because she just fell in love with it when she first saw it.

It was a certain shade of shade of blue, almost as blue as the sky. Sunflowers were printed along the bottom and the end of the sleeves, and it just really reminded her of her childhood as she ran through her Grandpa Nakazawa's sunflower fields in the summer.

It was just so beautiful she could have cried.

It was a good thing her mother and Fujimoto-san didn't argue with her because she'd fight tooth and nail for it.

Now she just hoped Tsubasa liked as much as she loved it. And if he didn't then he'll find himself alone that night because damn it, she loved the _yukata_ she's going to damn well enjoy wearing it.

… Just kidding, she didn't have the balls to leave Tsubasa like that. If anything, it might be him who's going to leave.

After buying the _yukata_ , she thought they were going to go home, but no, her mom brought her to the department her to buy her stuff. She got her about three new pairs of earrings, two new bracelets, two necklaces, four pairs of shoes, and at least six whole new outfits. Then they went to the make-up section and she bought her a brand new 48 palette make up set along with a tube of lipstick and lipgloss, eyeliner, and mascara. Not that she was complaining (her old palette was almost gone, and she did need new clothes again), but why was she buying her all these stuff? Usually, there so stingy about this and demand her to buy her own.

When she asked this out loud, she could only smack her face when she heard her mother's answer.

" _For your future dates with Tsubasa, of course!"_

She could never forget the look her mother gave her as if she just asked the stupidest question in the world.

Where did she even get that idea that this was a date? In fact, how was she so sure that they'd be going on more dates after this one outing?

Whatever, it's not her fault if they find out this was going to be their first and last "date" that they were going to be in.

She looked away from her mirror and glanced at the clock. 6:15. Good, she had a little bit of time left to finish her make-up. It shouldn't take that long.

Opening the tube of her mascara, she applied it to her lashes gently, careful not to poke her eye out. No matter how long she's been doing this, she still manages to hurt herself somehow. She even tried following her cousin's advice on how to put it on, she still pokes her eyes one way or another.

For some reason, she hadn't done anything wrong. She didn't know whether that was a good thing or a bad thing…

Shrugging, she threw the thought out of her mind and decided to go to back to applying her mascara.

Before she could even get started on her left eyelashes, she heard their doorbell ring,

What the hell? That couldn't be Tsubasa? It's still too-

She turned to look at the clock and almost swore out loud.

6:28.

Where did time go? Was this what she got for trying to be careful? Holy schmolitz!

Wait, maybe that wasn't Tsubasa at all. Maybe th-

"Oh, Tsubasa-kun! Welcome, welcome. Come in. Sunshine –I mean Sanae- is still in her room, preparing. She should be done soon."

Shit, shit, shit. Damn it!

Okay, Sanae, calm down. You're only going to make everything worse if you start panicking. Just take a deep breath and-and chill.

Following her own advice, she took a deep breath and worked on her left eye to apply her mascara. She tried to do it as fast as she could without hurting herself. She succeeded thank goodness and she immediately proceeded to applying her lipstick and lip gloss without a hitch.

Alright, doing good, doing good.

She checked herself one last time in the mirror, looking for anything wrong. Once she was finally satisfied with her appearance, she released a deep breath and grabbed her wristlet to leave her room.

When she saw Tsubasa sitting on their couch playing with Atsushi, she almost turned around back to her room to mourn over how she must have looked compared to him. Really, it was a sin to look as attractive as he was. He wasn't wearing much, just a blue and white striped shirt with some khaki shorts and navy blue boat shoes (since when did he own those) but damn did he make it look hot. Plus with the way he was playing with her younger brother was swoon worthy. Just imagine him doing it with their ch-

No, Sanae stop. Too far. Come back to reality.

"There you are!" her mother exclaimed exasperatedly as she strode to her quickly. She barely managed to see Tsubasa turn around to look at her before her mom started hovering over her. "Have you looked at time? It's already 6:37!" she said as she tried to flatten out any (if any) wrinkles on her _yukata_. "And you made Tsubasa-kun wait! Really."

"Sorry," Sanae managed to mumble softly while her mother continued to fix her.

"I'm not the one who you should be saying that to," her mother replied as she put a strand of her hair behind her ear. Then, she gave her a proud smile and gave her a kiss on her forehead. "You look beautiful." She bowed her head in embarrassment. She was never used to getting complements, even from her family. "Now go get him, Sunshine," her mother pushed her forward, making her tumble a little bit. It was a good thing she managed to balance herself or else she'd have to add falling in front of your crush to her long list of embarrassing moments in her life.

Sanae looked up to finally see Tsubasa head on, but what she saw only took her breath away.

He was staring at her intensely, and she could remember when he was staring at her like that. It was the day that they were stuck in cleaning duties, and just like how his gaze at her with so much intensity she felt her heart race once more.

Slowly, his eyes met hers and she took a deep breath. Suddenly, he smiled.

"Hi," he greeted her.

"Hello," she greeted back shyly with her head down. "Sorry, I made you wait." She started fidgeting where she stood, uncomfortable with the situation.

She felt a hand under her chin and soon, she found herself staring at Tsubasa's face. "Hey, it's okay. More than even if this is what I get for waiting for you." His hand then pushed some of the stray strands of her hair out of her face and set it on her cheek. "You look gorgeous by the way."

Sanae felt herself flush, her stomach doing somersaults as she looked away from him. God, really, she didn't know whether he was joking or actually serious about this. He's giving her mixed signals here!

They heard someone clear their throat and they immediately turned to where it came from. Tsubasa took off his hand from her cheek and both of them paid attention to her mom.

"Okay then," she clapped her hands. "Alright. Summer Festival. Sanae, you already know what your dad and I expect, please kindly inform Tsubasa-kun of them sometime tonight. Tsubasa-kun, I expect Sanae back at no later than 11 okay? If she's even a minute late, I'll be having a chat with your mom _before_ we have a chat of our own. Clear?"

"Crystal, ma'am," he answered confidently. "Sanae will be here at exactly 11."

Exactly at 11? Didn't the fireworks end at like 10:20? Couldn't he just drop her off earlier?

"Great!" her mom exclaimed excitedly as she magically brought out her camera out of nowhere. "Now I want some pictures to show my grandkids about their parents' first date."

"Mama!" Sanae shouted with red tinted cheeks. They really needed to stop assuming they were going to get married. And it's not a date damn it!

For his part, Tsubasa only laughed and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. She figured he was only doing this to amuse her mom, but she had to admit, she could get used to having him close to her.

After a few more clicks of the camera and her mom's gushing noises, both of them were out of her home and proceeded to the festival.

* * *

It was awkward at first to be honest. The first part of their walk was either filled with silence or random talks about the weather today. But when Tsubasa suddenly brought up how he was glad that it was her mom who was upstairs and not her dad, the conversation started from there. She couldn't believe he was afraid of her father! Come on, her dad was like the biggest human teddy bear in the world. How could you be scared of that?

Then the captain proceeded to tell his tales down in the parlor as her dad was somewhat glaring at her as he pointed him to the back entrance to ring their bell. Tsubasa was even sure that he was softly growling at him.

She still thought that wasn't true. So they just moved on to another topic and let him believe what he wanted to believe.

Their conversations after that was normal, like the way it used to be. Man, she almost forgot what it felt like having small talks with Tsubasa like this. It was so refreshing.

Engrossed in their conversation, she didn't even notice they arrived in front of entrance of the stalls, and to say that it was full of people was an understatement. It was packed.

She was trying to see if they could find a different way to get in, but then she suddenly felt a hand grab unto hers and laced them together.

Sanae looked towards Tsubasa in surprise and he only replied by giving her a smile and bringing their interlocked hands up.

"So we don't get separated," he explained. "I can't have you getting separated from me now, can I?"

She could only flush and nod her head silently. Her voice was too busy being stuck in her throat to even let her speak.

Tsubasa's smile softened before he led them into the crowd. As they walked between stalls and people, he was asking her what she wanted to go to first. She said she didn't really mind, as long as they stopped by a crêpe stall. She's been craving eating fruits and large amounts of chocolate in a thin pancake since the beginning of the month.

He only replied by chuckling.

They were getting close to a _yakitori_ stall (he wanted them and who was she to stop him) when they heard someone call Tsubasa's name. Someone she hoped wouldn't see in fear of him ruining everything.

"Oi, Tsubasa!" Ishizaki's voice drifted through their ears. They turned around to see not just him, but almost all the soccer team walking towards them. They didn't seem to recognize her though. How rude.

The other boys greeted them both and immediately started joking around.

"So are you guys here together or…" Taki-kun asked as he stared at both of them quizzically.

She and Tsubasa glanced at each other sideways, before Tsubasa quirked one corner of his lips in a smile and turned back to their friends.

"Yup!" he answered.

The boys then howled in surprise and their teasing got worse.

"Is this the reason why you said you already had plans when we asked if you wanted to come with us?" Kisugi-kun joked. "Damn Tsubasa. You savage. What would Anego say if she saw you with a beautiful girl like her?" Kisugi-kun gave her a wink and she didn't know whether to punch him or _punch_ him.

Sanae huffed and looked away as Tsubasa chuckled and squeezed her hand.

"About that…" he trailed off. "I am with Sanae-chan."

She glanced at the boys from the corner of her eyes and almost chewed their heads off when she saw their incredulous expressions on their faces. They've seen her face for almost four years now every day and they couldn't even recognize her with just a little make-up on? Nice to know they were paying attention to her.

"Anego?!" They exclaimed loudly with disbelief.

She huffed and turned back to face them. "No, _Kagura-hime_. Of course it's me. Who else?"

"B-but," Ishizaki stuttered. "Y-you're- you're- you look nice!"

Oh that's it. He's going down.

"Are you trying to imply something?" she hissed as she walked closer to him. Only Tsubasa's hand on hers stopped her from getting closer and beating him senseless.

"N-no!" their defender exclaimed in panic. "I meant- what I wanted to say-"

"I think you should probably stop now before you say something to make her angrier at you, Ishizaki-kun," Tsubasa said as he tugged on her hand. She only glared at Ishizaki before returning back to his side.

The boys laughed at their spluttering bald headed friend before they all finally calmed down.

"So is this like a date then?" Morisaki asked as their friends stared at them.

Sanae blushed for who knows what time now for the day and was about to deny it but Tsubasa beat her to it.

"You could say that," he answered with a nonchalant shrug. For the second time that night, he left everyone dumbfounded, only this time she was one of them.

Before anyone could say anything, Tsubasa cleared his throat.

"Well, we'll be seeing you guys. Sanae-chan and I are going to grab something to eat. _Ja ne!_ " With a wave of his hand, Tsubasa pulled her away from their friends and left them with jaws dropped.

For her part, she could only stare at him dumbly as they arrived in front of the _yakitori_ stall. She was only forced back to reality when she faintly heard him ask her if she wanted one. She only shook her head as let go of her hand to grab his wallet from his pocket to pay for his _yakitori_. After taking his food, he immediately slipped into hers once more and they proceeded to walk around some more.

She was so confused right now, she didn't even have time to ask him if he was serious about this whole thing being a date.

"There it is!" he exclaimed as she followed his gaze. The crêpe stall was close and Tsubasa wasted no time in leading them there.

"Here you go, Sanae-chan. You said you wanted crêpes right?" he asked with another sweet smile. Oh god, with all the smiles he's giving her, she might not even need these. She nodded and returned her smile before turning to the vendors.

As they waited for her order to be made, Sanae let his hand go to pay for her food when Tsubasa held onto to her wrist to stop her.

"It's okay," he said. "I'll pay for it."

She stared at him dumbly again and she stopped moving for a few seconds before she started protesting.

"Really, it's fine Sanae-chan," he assured her. She tried to stop him again but he already gave his money to the person as the other one passed the crêpe to her.

This was really turning out into a date, holy shit.

"Thanks for paying for me," she said, letting the crepe cool off as they walked some more.

He smiled once more. "What kind of guy am I if I let the girl pay on our date?" he teased. She felt her heart skip a beat. There it was again. Was this really a date then?

She was about to ask him that very question, but like always, he beat her to it.

"Your food should be cool by now," he remarked. She jumped a little and looked down at her sweet treat.

"Oh right," she said before taking a bite out of her crêpe. Without meaning to, she managed to produce a small moan of glee as the taste of strawberries, bananas, and creamy chocolate flooded her mouth in a mixture of delightful sin. Oh she definitely needed that. From all the stress she's been through, she deserved this so much.

She heard Tsubasa chuckle softly from beside him, and only then did she realize what she did.

Oh my god, he heard her make such a scandalous noise. Could this get any worse?

"You sure like your crêpes, don't you?" he said teasingly.

She felt another blush coming on and felt herself look down. Maybe she shouldn't have put her hair in a bun. That way they could hide how ashamed she was.

"I can't help it okay," she tried to defend herself. "I needed this after this whole whirlwind of a week."

"I'm sure you do," he remarked with a chuckle. She only huffed and took another bite out of her food.

She was about to get another piece of the food when she heard him speak.

"Is it really that good?" she heard him ask. She stopped eating and peered at him curiously.

"Yeah, why?" she replied.

He shrugged, "I don't know. I haven't really tried it yet."

She felt herself stop and gasp in offense. He's never tried a crêpe before? What kind of atrocity was this?

"Something wrong?" he asked with concern on his face. Oh precious child.

"You never really tried one before?" she tried to clarify. "Like ever?"

He nodded his head in confirmation. "I'm not actually fond of sweets."

Oh dear, she had to rectify this!

She tugged at his hand and turned back around, pulling her with him as sped walked passed the other visitors of the festival towards the crêpe stall once more.

"Sanae-chan, slow down!" she heard him tell her. "Where are we going?"

"Back to the crêpe stall!" she answered simply. "You need to try one immediately, Tsubasa-kun! I guarantee your life will change forever."

"But I don't want to!"

She suddenly stopped and whipped around, a determined look in her face. She barely noticed the little jump of surprise he made, but she didn't care. She needed to make him understand what his life was missing by not eating sweets. Instinctively, she let go of his hand only to set it on her hip.

"You will get to taste a crêpe, one way or another Tsubasa-kun," she declared, "And if I have to pay for it, I will. You don't know what you're missing!"

He blinked at her incredulously, before his mouth broke into an amused grin and ran a hand through his hair. Oh god, that was so hot. She'd rather ki- no Sanae, remember what you need to do. This is for his own good!

"Okay. I'll eat one," he conceded. She felt herself beam in excitement and she was about to turn around to continue to their trek back to the stall when he spoke again.

"But we don't need to go back to the stall," he said. She looked at him curiously. What did he mean? Didn't he need one to taste it?

"I just have to one right?" he asked while taking a step towards her. She nodded slowly, still clueless on what he was going on about. "Then we really don't need to go back."

She was about to ask what he really meant before she felt his hand wrap around her wrist and leaned down to grab a bite from her crêpe.

Oh dear lord, she felt like her heart was going to burst. This man will be the death of her, she was sure.

"Hn," he said after gulping down what he was chewing. "You're right it is really good. I might have to grab a few more bites from you."

With her heart hammering in her chest, her voice getting struck in her throat, and her face looking like one of the candied apples in a nearby stall, she could only mutter a soft "okay" and a nod of her head.

Tsubasa slipped his hand back into hers immediately (it almost seems like he was desperate to hold onto hers, really. Not that she was complaining or anything) and they went back to walking once more. As they walked, they pointed at the games and attractions around them, noting what seemed to be worth coming back to, what they didn't like, and what they couldn't miss.

Aside from her nervousness every time he asked for a bite out of her crêpe, it was actually pretty fun. He even won her a teddy bear at one of the game stalls! How awesome was that? Like really, she was making him wish they were really together.

Life was unfair.

Tsubasa checked his phone for the time as she held the teddy bear close to her, smiling to herself. She was going to cuddle with this every night.

"We should probably go," he told them as he pocketed his phone back. "The fireworks will start in 15 minutes."

She peered up to him with knitted eyebrows. "We're not watching here?"

He shook his head with a smile. "It's too crowded. You wouldn't even be able to appreciate it with everyone fighting each other for space. Plus, I don't exactly want to crane my neck uncomfortably, and I'm sure you wouldn't like it either.

Good point.

"But where are we watching it then?" she asked in confusion. She didn't know anywhere else to watch the fireworks.

He only replied with a cheeky grin as he gave her hand a light squeeze.

"It's a surprise."

* * *

It really was a surprise. Of all places to bring her, she didn't expect it to be Hikarigaoka Park. She knew what this park meant to him, and even though it was a public park, there was still something special with him bringing her here personally.

"Sorry for the long walk," he apologized as he took a seat on the grass under a tree. "But I promise the view here is amazing."

"I'll have to trust you on that," she remarked while taking the seat beside him. She sat Sora, the teddy bear, down beside her. "I mean, even if it the fireworks disappointed me, at least I saw Nankatsu at night. It's pretty breathtaking to be honest. I feel like I'd still be satisfied if we didn't even see fireworks at all."

He only replied by laughing and leaned against the tree's trunk.

They easily settled into a relaxing chat, talking about the random things they saw in the festival as they waited for the fireworks to start anytime. She couldn't believe how comfortable it felt just talking to him about normal stuff, like how couples usually do after a long day.

She could get used to this honestly.

They were in the middle of recounting how Ishizaki looked when he was in the middle of a _takoyaki_ eating contest when they first heard the first boom across the sky. Quickly, they turned to the front just in time to see the following fireworks illuminate the sky.

Tsubasa was right. The view was amazing.

Sanae felt herself gasp in excitement as watched each one explode in a burst of colorful lights. For some reason, they seemed to be more vivid up here than down in the street. It was absolutely breathtaking.

Completely immersed in watching the fireworks, she didn't notice the way Tsubasa was staring at her tenderly, softly as if she was more beautiful than the lights that shone down on them. Smiling, he laced their hands together and turned to watch the fireworks.

Sanae blinked out of her trance and slowly turned to look down at their hands. From all the times they've held hands that night, this was the first time she realized how they fit perfectly. Actually, when she looked back on it, this whole night had been perfect, and it was mostly his own doing.

He picked her up from her house like a gentleman, made sure they didn't get separated, paid for her food, won her a prize, and now brought her to the best place to watch the fireworks.

He was just so perfect, she didn't know how to thank him.

She had an idea, she just hoped that he wouldn't push her away after this.

Impulsively, she leaned close to his ear. Taking advantage of the small break in the fireworks she whispered, "Thank you for this amazing night."

And she gave his cheek a kiss.

She didn't mean for it to linger than necessary, and she immediately went back to watching the next set of fireworks. She forced herself not to look at him as she willed her blush to die down, completely ignoring the surprised look Tsubasa was giving him.

Of all things to happen, she didn't expect for him to turn his body to face her and wrap around her waist to make her face him before finally taking her lips in his.

She felt herself stop breathing, her eyes wide in shock. Was this real? Was Tsubasa really kissing her?

She felt Tsubasa's other hand set down on her hair and pulling her closer, his kiss becoming more demanding but sweet at the same time.

Finally getting her answer, Sanae laid a hand on his cheek and his chest before returning his kiss with as much zeal as he did.

Both of them were panting once they separated from each other, the sound of the last fireworks fading off into the night. They laid their foreheads together, and slowly Tsubasa's lips turned into a smile.

"You have no idea how much I've been wanting to do that," he laughed as they separated from each other. She would have laughed with him if it wasn't for the fact that she was too busy processing what he just said.

"What?" she asked dumbly.

He rolled his eyes in mock exasperation and bopped her nose with his finger. "I've been wanting to kiss you, silly," he repeated simply.

She looked at him incredulously. How? When? What the hell is going on?

"Since when?" she exclaimed. "I- I mean, how- wha- I'm confused."

He chuckled and gave her a tender look, pushing loose strands of her hair out of her face which was probably hideous from the way he grabbed them a few moments ago.

"Since I saw you come out of your room," he answered as he settled her hand on her face, caressing her cheek with his hand. "On second thought, it was actually earlier than that. Maybe since last month."

Last month? You mean to tell her he's been meaning to kiss her since last month?

And he didn't realize she wanted to ask him to the Summer Festival?

"Last month?" she repeated stupidly.

Tsubasa hummed in confirmation as continued to caress her cheek. "I've been wanting to trap you against a wall and ravish you senseless since we were left in the classroom to clean two weeks ago. If only Ishizaki didn't disturb us that day, there was a possibility that we would have left that room without our virginities intact."

Did he just…

Who was this man and where did her sweet-precious-cute-innocent Tsubasa go?!

"Although maybe it was a good thing he went to tell me about practice," he pondered. "I don't think we'd even realize it was already time to leave school. We'd be… preoccupied, well our mouths would be."

Oh my god, stop. This was not good for her heart. Her mind trying to generate ideas on what Tsubasa would do to her was not helping matters either.

She backed away from him, making him take off his hand away from her face. She replaced with her own hands as she looked down, fearing for how red her face must be.

"You should probably take care of how your face looks right now," she heard him as she peered up to him shyly. There was another teasing smile on her face and he really needed to stop teasing her. "Or else I might actually take you right here on the grass with how you look right now. I always did like it when you blush, especially when I was the one made you like that."

Make him stop please. She didn't know how long she could take him joking about having sex with her.

"Tsubasa-kun please," she pleaded while refusing to meet him. "You're going to make my heart stop with all these innuendos."

He only chuckled in reply and wrapped his arms around her to pull her closer to him. "Alright I'll stop. But no promises on the innuendos though. And they're not jokes. I mean them."

She could only produce an unintelligible sound and sunk into him. He chuckled once more and placed a soft kiss on her head.

Somehow, that small gesture meant more than she thought to her.

"Can I ask a question?" she asked once she finally had her heart settled back to at least a calmer pace.

"Hmm?" he hummed, drawing tiny circles on her hip.

"When exactly last month did you realize that, you know…" she trailed off.

"'Like you'?" he supplied. She could only nod her head, her voice in her throat once again. She didn't expect that he was going to return her feelings in such a simple way. She imagined it to be bigger, grander, with him fighting to her love and confessing under a tree as the sun sets in the background.

But this, this was nice too. Better even. It was more believable, more intimate, more true.

"Remember that one time you came back in just a simple shirt and shorts after helping with something with your parents? The day I got hit by a ball?" he asked.

Of course she did. That was one of the most stressful days of her life. She was so close to calling 119 that day because he actually went unconscious after being hit. She wanted to strangle Taki-kun for even kicking a ball that powerful.

She nodded again and Tsubasa continued.

"Well, that was the day I realized that you were actually really pretty. I mean, I already knew you were pretty. Boys had a knack of listing who they thought were hot and you're actually pretty high on the list."

What? Really? How in the world…

Then he frowned, "Though I don't like the way they talked about you. It was just too… vulgar I guess. And if anything, 'hot' wouldn't be words I'd describe you."

She tried not to frown in disappointment, she really did. "I see," she mumbled softly.

"I'd call you beautiful, gorgeous, dazzling, radiant…" he listed lazily. She turned to look at her incredulously. Did he really mean that? "…Sexy."

She felt herself flush once more. Was his goal in life was to torment and embarrass her?

"But anyway," he cleared his throat as he looked away, and she could faintly see a soft tinge of pink on his own cheeks. He turned back to her, a shy smile on his face.

"When I woke up that afternoon on your lap –which was really soft by way. Please let me take naps on them anytime- and I realized that you were the one who took care of me, I also had an epiphany that I like you. A lot," he explained, scratching the back of his head. "Going home that day and ignoring homework to mull over my feelings for you just made me confirm what I really feel for you. That and my mom kind of had to spell it out to my face when over dinner."

Then he cleared his throat again. "So yeah, that's my story of how I realized that I am in love with Nakazawa Sanae after all these years that she's apparently been pining over me."

She stared at him with wide eyes, baffled at his declaration.

"You knew?!" she demanded, moving to stand on her knees. "I-wha- how?!"

He chuckled nervously and backed away a little bit. "It wasn't that hard to figure out to be honest. I mean yeah, you tried to be inconspicuous, but it's kind of hard to ignore when you keep staring at me half of the time. I didn't think about it at first, but like I said, _Okaa-san_ had to spell it out for me before I actually believed it."

She felt her eye twitch. He knew, and he still- ugh, this was so irritating.

"You knew," she repeated slowly. "You knew and yet you still let me believe that you didn't like me back? Do you have any idea how hard it was to force myself to ask you out? I didn't even have to embarrass myself attempting to ask you to the Summer Festival during the fiasco at the field three weeks ago!"

He stared at her shocked, "Wait, you were going to ask me-"

"And the event with the classroom, I wanted you to stay with me so I can ask you again, but you never did," she spat venomously. "And now, you made me all confused tonight, this whole week even. Suddenly insisting to go with me to the Summer Festival, never letting my hand go, telling everyone we're on a date. You're the only one who knew what was going on!"

She was so busy ranting at him to even notice the way he moved his body to face her, his legs settling on either side of her as she poked his shoulder every time she said something.

With one last poke, she huffed irritably and said, "What kind of boyfriend are you?!"

Oh shit, she did not just say that.

Both of them stared at each other incredulously for quite some time. They were both caught off guard what she just said both of them couldn't find anything to say.

Slowly, his lips produced such a happy smile she felt like her heart was going to jump out of her chest.

"I like the sound of that," he remarked quietly, circling her waist with his arms to pull her closer to him. "Being your boyfriend. It sounds nice." He laid his chin on her shoulder, a cheeky grin on his mouth

She felt herself flush as she instinctively put her hands on his shoulder.

"Does that mean you're my girlfriend then?" he asked, burying his face on her neck and taking a deep breath. She didn't know what to do and she barely even realized nodding her head.

"So I can do this right?" he said as he kissed her chin. "And this," her neck. "And this," her collar. "And this?"

Suddenly, Sanae found herself on her back on the grass, Tsubasa hovering on top of her. She felt her heart pounding against her chest and found she couldn't breathe with the way Tsubasa was looking at her.

She was honestly afraid and excited of what he might do to her.

Then suddenly a phone rang.

Tsubasa's face wrinkled in annoyance before he took his phone out of his pocket. She stared at him as his eyes suddenly widened in panic.

"Oh shit!" he swore. "It's 10:45. I have 15 minutes to get you home. And your house is about thirteen minutes away if we walk."

What? Already? Where did time go?

He quickly stood up and helped her up from where she was lying. "Quick, we gotta move. Your mom, and definitely your dad, will kill me if I don't bring you home at 11. Then my mom will bring me back to life to kill me again."

He grabbed Sora from the grass and told her to fix her hair. She didn't know why he was so concerned about it really.

"I am not taking any chances with your parents. They are definitely going to think I did something inappropriate with you they're not exactly wrong on that one- but I will not have you be taken away from me. We haven't even been together for a day!" he exclaimed as he helped her get rid of the hair pins from her hair.

He had a point. But does this mean he wouldn't do all those things that made her fluster as often now?

"If you think I'm going to stop making you blush, then think again, Miss Nakazawa," he said as if reading her mind. He passed Sora back to her as she held it close to her face. "If anything they'd be worse." He winked at her.

Oh dear god, he was going to kill her one day.

"Now come on," he said. "Let's get you home before I get my boyfriend privileges taken away."

He grabbed her hand and they started walking down the hill. She peered up to Tsubasa furtively, observing the smile that seemed to illuminate his whole being. She couldn't help being happy like he was, knowing that she was the reason why he was like that, knowing that he reciprocated her feelings just as much as she did.

Tsubasa suddenly gave her had a squeeze and looked down to her. "By the way," he started. "Thanks for making this the best birthday ever. I couldn't ask for a better gift." He smiled at her softly.

Wait, birthday? What's even the date to-

Oh my god, it was July 28th! How could she forget? She didn't even get him a gift!

But then he said she already gave him a gift…

Hmmm…

She suddenly stopped, forcing him to stop as well. He turned around to face her, his eyebrows knitted in confusion.

"Are you okay?" he asked. She stared at him and held onto her teddy bear tighter. She could do this. She knew she could.

"Come on Sanae-chan, we don't really have time to dawdle," he informed her. "Our relationship is a-"

She didn't let him finish since she already threw herself at him to capture his hips with hers. After a few seconds, she separated from him and stared at him. "Did I make the gift better?" she asked shyly.

He stared at her in surprise before beaming once more. "Yes. More than even," she couldn't help the smile to form on her face.

"Now come on," he tugged at her hand. "Let's really get you home. I want to do more to you, but time is against us right now. Tomorrow I'd give you the best thank you kiss, I promise."

She felt herself flush once as they walked hand in hand. She was glad that she decided to go with Tsubasa instead of chickening out. And she was happy she didn't give up on him. Look where she was now, walking with him with their hands laced together to her home. Never in her life did she expect this would actually happen to her, but it did and that's all that mattered.

As she laid her head on his shoulder, she couldn't help but sigh in contentment.

End Story

* * *

AN: title was taken from the english translation of the vocaloid song "juvenile". i was listening to it while reading it. but i was mostly listening to "sekai wa koi ni ochiteiru" from ao haru ride. give them a little if you want.

but yeah, hope you all liked it.

thanks for reading and please review!


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